Archives for May 2017

For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.

Update: Oooh: this navy suit we featured a few weeks ago is on serious sale — I’ve also thrown together a quick gallery of some good deals for workwear at the Dillards sale (after the jump); most of what I’ve pictured is under $55. Note that some of it is final sale, so be careful to notice that when ordering!

Here’s a fun question for today: what’s your vacation money strategy? What’s your overall strategy about vacations and budgets — how do you plan to budget while on vacation — and how do you pay for vacation?There are a lot of questions here, such as:

Overall vacation money strategy: What do you consider getting the most “bang for your buck” — frequent and small vacations, one big vacation every year or two, or something else? From the “time vs money” perspective for vacations, do you gravitate towards the more expensive but all-inclusive cruise, resort, or tour so that you save time at the research phase — or do you prefer (for money or enjoyment) to DIY your vacations? For those of you who go to the same place often (such as spending a week every summer at Cape Cod or the Jersey Shore, or heading to DisneyWorld once a year), how big of a role does budgeting play in that decision?

Budgeting while on vacation: do you have ways of saving money while on vacation that you use no matter where you go? For example, bringing protein bars with you so your breakfast is covered, or making sure to hit the “included breakfast” at your hotel and eat a ton so you don’t have to eat a big lunch?

How to pay for vacation: Do you save in advance for your trip, or put it on credit card? Does anyone use automatic transfers to savings to set aside money regularly to keep for vacations? Is anyone heavily into airline miles or points?

Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.

This lovely dress from Boden is machine washable, as so many Boden dresses are, and it’s in a medium-weight ponte jersey, fully lined, with a hidden back zip. I go back and forth on lace for the office, but these details are like a thick crocheted lace, and they look great on this dress, which comes in navy and “imperial poppy.” It looks like a really nice sheath dress with a few interesting touches, and it’s still completely appropriate for work. The dress comes in sizes 2-18 in regular and long — and note that there are more sizes available right now in the pink. Hera Ponte Dress

We’ve included this pump from Trotters in a number of our roundups of the best low heels, but I don’t think we’ve ever highlighted it in its own post. I love this black python-print leather, the short 1.75″ heel, and the classic kitten heel look. It comes in 10 colors and five (!) widths at Nordstrom for $99-$109 and is also available at Zappos and Amazon. It’s got great reviews at all three sites! Paulina Leather Pump

What’s the best advice for how to stop skirts from twisting around? Is it a slip problem, a skirt problem, or a sizing problem? Reader C asks a question about a problem that I know I’ve experienced: the rotating skirt. I did some digging to find some solutions, and spoiler alert: one of the tips on how to stop skirts from twisting around blew my mind. Here’s Reader C’s question:

What slips do you recommend under work (suit) skirts? And how do you prevent the skirt from “spinning” around while you walk to and from the train? I like the lightweight Commando slips, but I cannot seem to keep my suit skirts from spinning around while I walk, and it takes the slip and tucked in blouse with it (and bunches up unattractively). Is this a slip problem or a skirt sizing problem? Help!

VERY interesting question, C. I always hated when this happened to me — nothing screams professional like arriving at work with your skirt twisted around so the zipper (and vent!) is in the front. (BTW, PSA for the newbies to officewear: if your vent is sewn shut with an X you should rip the X to open the vent.) I had one favorite skirt where this was particularly problematic — I eventually decided it was because it fit my hips, but not my waist — and tailoring did help keep my skirt from twisting around. So my initial response would be that, if you need to stop your skirt from twisting around, check the fit of the skirt before anything else.

Looking around the web it seems like the problem of the skirt twisting around may also be due to a few other factors, though:

Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.

Tibi is doing a lot of very interesting things, for those of you with a more fashiony comfort level when it comes to workwear. They’ve got these corset peplum tops and also corsets, Edwardian tops, and some very intriguing double waist pants — so definitely check them out if you’re on that end of the spectrum. The pictured top is available in lucky sizes only at Tibi, Saks, Amazon, and Nordstrom in black, pink, “sand blush,” and white. Tibi Twill Corset Peplum Top